InFocus: VoIP and the necessity of real-time billing
作者: alexclark(http://alexclark.itpub.net)发表于: 2005.09.06 11:54
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出处: http://alexclark.itpub.net/post/670/40270
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InFocus: VoIP and the necessity of real-time billing
By John Trembley, TimesTen Inc.
Mar 15, 2005 12:29 PM
As service providers seek the next wave of applications to entice consumers and businesses, network convergence is fast becoming a reality to enable Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) services and a new, enhanced customer experience. This is especially true in the area of billing, a frequent point of contention with subscribers. The ability to view call history and resulting call detail records (CDRs) in real time is a mainstay of VoIP and a key market differentiator over traditional phone services. In essence, VoIP customers are offered a real-time billing or convergent billing experience from day one, enabling unprecedented access to call history and even providing the ability to purchase services on a prepaid basis. As a result, subscribers benefit from better rates and enhanced features, which in turn protects revenue streams for services providers and even reduces churn rates.
One of the catalysts for this communications trend relates to the increasing number of broadband users connecting to the Internet and downloading email using cable, DSL and fixed-mobile connections. The proliferation of high-bandwidth users has given rise to an increasing desire to conduct voice calls over broadband connections. As a result, VoIP has become the latest fashionable application, and is now a top priority of service provider agendas for the next few years.
As a result, some of the large scale providers
are now aggressively rolling out VoIP services to their residential and
small business customers, riding both the appeal of lower telephony
costs found on packet networks and advanced calling feature bundles
that promise increased productivity and ease of use. The fact that
industry bellwethers are embracing this innovative technology for
modern telephony is a key indicator of trends to come. It is the small,
innovative VoIP providers, however, who are gaining the mindshare, and
some would argue customers, by offering attractive pricing and a
superior customer experience. This trend is especially visible in the
United States, where dozens of startups called 揵roadband telephony
providers
